Danny Next

Danny Williams built a successful law practice, created a cable television empire, remade a province, launched a successful professional hockey franchise and now he wants to found his own new town on the edge of his St. John’s hometown. Along the way, Danny Williams has learned a few lessons. About business. About politics. About himself. He […]

The world’s ‘poorest’ president teaches rich lessons

Pop quiz: Who is José Mujica and why should you care? If the answer doesn’t trip off your tongue, I sympathize. Until recently, I had no idea. I discovered him, in fact, serendipitously and circuitously. My most recent book, What Lies Across the Water: The Real Story of the Cuban Five, unravels the tale of a […]

No love from Lunenburg

From Atlantic Business Magazine Posted on August 19, 2013 This story, which originally appeared in the July-August issue of Atlantic Business Magazine, is a finalist in the 2013 Atlantic Journalism Awards. The awards will be presented May 10, 2014 in Halifax. Canada hadn’t been part of Jeremy Wellard’s master plan. Nova Scotia wasn’t on his map. […]

Capitalist cannibalism

“And so capitalism is about to seize defeat from the jaws of victory, all by its own hand. That’s the astonishing end of this story, unless we reverse course.” –David Simon, Festival of Dangerous Ideas Sydney, Australia, November 2013 David Simon is not a politician. He’s not a philosopher. And he’s certainly not a prophet. […]

Working it out

Commerce grads says mandatory work terms give them a jump on career success. (From the July-August 2012 issue of Atlantic Business Magazine.) It is a sweetly sunny late May day in Halifax, the morning after yet another night before on the streets of Montreal where police arrested 518 students in another night of demonstrations against […]

Howling at the Moon

Why did Nova Scotia business wail wolf over first contract legislation? On Dec. 14, 2011, Sobeys announced it was swallowing whole every one of Shell Canada’s 250 service stations east of Ontario. No big deal. The day before, Empire, which controls the Canadian super-sized supermarket chain, had reported a quarterly profit of $78.1 million. Sobeys […]

John Risley responds to my Occupy column

John Risley, the president of Clearwater Fine Foods and a columnist for Atlantic Business Magazine, says I’ve got it all wrong when it comes to the Occupy Movement. “In the previous issue of Atlantic Business Magazine,” Risley writes, “my fellow columnist — Stephen Kimber — attempted to explain the Occupy movement. Unfortunately he got it […]

The rise and fall—and fall—of Richard Homburg

By 2009, Richard Homburg’s glitzy, buzz-worthy annual office parties had become corporate Halifax’s post-Christmas social hot ticket. Two hundred of the city’s elite investors, investment advisors, developers, lawyers, accountants and assorted corporate hangers-on would gather in the January freeze to mix and mingle at Homburg Citadel, Homburg Invest’s global corporate headquarters. A modern building insinuated […]

The Occupy Movement for business… in 15 minutes, more or less

My assignment: “Explain the Occupy Wherever Movement in 15 Minutes.” The occasion was a recent luncheon at the Halifax Club to mark Global Ivey Day, an annual opportunity for alumni of the University of Western Ontario’s Ivey School of Business to come together to celebrate their Iveyness. I’d been invited as the post-lunch speaker, even […]